Fiverr’s playing around with its feedback system again – this time, with public reviews. In a public feedback beta test launch announcement today, Fiverr Staff introduced a new system with some interesting new features.
It’s no secret that Fiverr’s feedback system is a broken mess. Its sellers rail against the injustice of the overly secretive nature of private reviews while buyers find it hard to pick between endless 5-star rated sellers.
It’s already a badly-kept secret among Fiverr users that public feedback is not as important as private reviews. But now, the company could be reviewing the current setup in a bid to bring greater transparency and trust to the system.
But is that the whole story? Let’s dig into the public feedback beta test announcement a little deeper.
A Quiet Forum Announcement with Big Implications?
The announcement came on the Fiverr Forum from Kesha (you may need to log in to view the topic), a Fiverr staff member. According to Kesha:
We’re continuing our efforts to build a more modern, reliable rating and review system that will encourage freelance business growth on the Fiverr marketplace, empower customer decision-making, and enhance trust between freelancers and customers.
Kesha, Fiverr staff member
Kesha also underlined that the changes were not being rolled out sitewide and would only be tested on a select amount of users. This is the standard way that Fiverr beta tests new features before rolling out changes to the entire marketplace.
What Changes Are Being Tested with Fiverr’s Public Feedback?
A picture tells a thousand words, and Kesha was kind enough to share screenshots of how the new public feedback system works. The image below, taken from the original post, shows what buyers will see when leaving reviews for sellers if they are part of the beta test:
Here are the images in closer detail, although there is some loss of picture quality:
A screenshot of changes to the overall feedback score visible on a seller’s gig was also released, although it does not appear significantly different to the current one.
It is possible that Fiverr may increase the fields in Rating Breakdown based on selections that buyers make during the review process, but this remains to be seen. Is Fiverr finally getting rid of vague rating indicators like Recommend to a friend in favor of more focused criteria like value for money and professionalism of work?
Is Fiverr Getting Deeper Into Hidden Metrics?
The beta feedback system also betrays a new and increased focus on data, possibly feeding into some AI-powered system, whether that’s Fiverr Neo or the Fiverr algorithm. One does have to wonder how buyers will translate criteria like ‘Level of innovation’. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Not all services are necessarily innovative or require Silicon Valley-style shows of innovation over the latest version of the wheel.
It’s also notable that Fiverr is querying buyers on ‘Level of fluency’ – another potential misstep on a marketplace where it isn’t just sellers who are non-native speakers of English and a strong belief that their English skills are better than they actually are.
While these seem like strange criteria to request for a feedback system that still relies on a 5-star scale, considering Fiverr’s use of AI and hidden metrics to grade sellers, this does rise a question that could cheer up many current users of Fiverr.
What if this public feedback beta test is the start of something beautiful?
Could the Public Review Beta Test Be the Beginning of the End of Private Feedback on Fiverr?
If Fiverr should have learned one thing this past year from its community, then it was that sellers do not like the secretive and hidden nature of the private feedback system, nor its increasing dependence on hidden metrics.
Buyers are also getting serious feedback fatigue with endless reviews to fill out, often causing them not to leave reviews. With sellers often dependent on reviews to keep their metrics optimized for monthly evaluations, the system is far from ideal for anyone except Fiverr’s data analysts.
Even they would probably welcome more data!
Contrast the following image of the current private feedback system against the public feedback beta test images above. Notice any similarities?
Clearly, the entire feedback system of Fiverr needed an overhaul – and this public feedback beta test may be a first step towards a better feedback system for all users. Is Fiverr may trying to find ways to blend private and public reviews together without losing its data toybox?
Kesha certainly hints at it:
These changes are aimed at cultivating more honest feedback for greater transparency. Some (but not all) of you will come across these changes, so here’s what to keep an eye out for:
[…]
2. A streamlined customer review process with an upgraded design and experience.
Kesha (emphasis my own)
At the time of writing this, this public feedback beta test post has not attracted much attention on the Forum due to it being released just a few short hours ago. However, users are already questioning how it will be implemented, and how it will affect seller ratings moving forward.
Fiverr staff have not yet responded, but they are monitoring responses from the community.
UPDATE: Private Reviews to Stay, First Reviews
After several questions about private feedback, Kesha has confirmed that private reviews will not be affected by this beta test:
This test will not affect the Private Review form but I will be sure to pass the feedback on to the product team!
Kesha
Some sellers who are part of Fiverr’s public feedback beta test have also shared reviews that hint at how the new system might take shape, although one example was removed by Fiverr staff for violating the Forum’s rules.
Wrap-Up: the Public Feedback Beta Test Hints At Big Changes Coming
This is a very speculative article, coming hot off the press of a small piece of news on the forum that will only affect a few Fiverr users. One thing’s for sure: this public feedback beta test is definitely Fiverr cooking up a new recipe for what it hopes will be a better system for the users of the online marketplace.
There’s no doubting that the current system’s secrecy and overwhelm has been a bone of contention for a while now, so hopefully this change will yield positive results.
I must stress that there is no confirmation or suggestion from Fiverr that private reviews are going the way of the dodo or that this new system ties into Fiverr’s AI. However, the focus is moving from star and numerical rating systems into word-based systems that may just feed into Fiverr Neo’s own conversational matchmaking method – with a nod to public feedback as one of the most basic mechanisms of any ecommerce platform.
It’s a tantalizing thought, and raises one final question: what if Fiverr is looking towards AI as a way to finally revolve its feedback woes? After all, when every seller is a 5-star dream, it makes much more sense to ask Fiverr’s own AI to pluck out candidates from a pool of high-quality contenders based on criteria that matter to them.
If that’s the case, then I can only take my hat off to Fiverr for its ‘level of innovation’. For now, though, Fiverr sellers should hope for the best and prepare for the worst: Fiverr’s track record in feedback innovation has rarely treated them well, nor given buyers the clarity they need. Only time can tell whether this public feedback beta test will be any different.
UPDATE: Fiverr has almost completed its test, and the results have sparked an outcry over the new feedback and rating system among the platform’s sellers. The platform’s updated system aims to provide clearer guidelines for sellers to advance their levels and improve their rankings, but has received criticism from some users who feel it is unfair and inconsistent.
